Put a Little Love Out – 1st Edition

I know there are good people out there doing great things. I see them every day – giving up their seat on the train, buying a coffee for someone who’s cold, smiling at someone who looks like they need it, helping someone cross the street. I wanted to collect these little stories into a short celebration of Nice Things That Folks Do.

Here was the idea; I wrote a knitting pattern that was free. All one had to do was write to me and tell me something nice that they did. I put it out there on my blog and sat back and waited (pessimistically, I grant you) for the knitting community to send me a big ‘fat chance’ in the form of collective inaction.

They didn’t. They sat and they wrote and they sent stories and photos. And I sat and I read and I occasionally got teary eyed and I emailed out knitting patterns. The response was huge and affirming and immensely cheering.

I want to reference the very first story that was sent to me – because it was as significant a first story as one could ask for. A woman wrote to tell me that she let a stranger use her phone, and discovered later that she had averted a suicide.

To me, this shows as clear as anything that the consequences of our smallest actions can be huge beyond our reckoning – it reminds me that the tiny pieces of kindness that we put out there go a long way. It was also a sobering glimpse into the possible consequences of tiny pieces of negativity too – something to ponder if you’re short with the person who made you coffee, cut someone off in traffic or neglected to hold open the elevator door.

I’ve collected some of my favourite stories, removed the names and created a free e-book from them. Feel free to download it, share it, and help put a little love out.

Will I do it again? Absolutely. I’m working on the next design, so stay tuned. Oh, and thank you – you guys rock.

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3 Comments

I LOVE this! I brought my kids up to try to say something nice to a stranger every day, I told them that true complements are free and they are dear to the person receiving them. For example, if they liked the color of someone’s t-shirt, I told them to tell the person. I’m a very shy person so this is a big thing for me to do, but I do tell people, young to old, if there is something about them that I like! Complements are free!

Beautiful Shireen. I truly believe that what you put out there comes back to you twofold. How hard is it to be nice and respectful to others, you never know it may just change their whole life and surely it is easier to be positive and generous that negative and mean spirited. Imagine how great our world would be if everyone had this attitude?